Pipe dream: Overcoming waste in water distribution

Water transmission systems are prone to leakage, in the Middle East and elsewhere. In spite of a relatively young infrastructure, providers of leak detection equipment are looking at a growth market.

In a region in which water is a scarce, and precious, commodity, the onus is on utilities to minimise non revenue water (NRW), water lost before it reaches the end user. Not only does a great proportion of potable water stem from desalination, a costly and energy intensive process, providers also carry the burden of enabling industrial expansion and catering for
population growth.

This is good news for companies providing leak detection services. “The Middle East is absolutely a growth market for the leak detection business,” says Kevin Laven, solutions manager at the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company (PPIC). “The region fits the three criteria of the profile for an ideal market: high water loss rates, scarcity of available water, and the availability of funds to allow for the detection and repair of the leaks.”

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“The Middle East is one of the most attractive markets due to scarcity, demographic and economic development, water linkage to power, recovery for oil and gas and importance for other industries,” agrees Maurizio Selmi,
manager at ABB’s Center of Excellence Onshore.

This is reflected in business growth rates, “Sales of Bentley’s water products have been growing at approximately 25 percent compound in the Middle East in recent years,” says Perrine Parrod, water product marketing manager at Bentley.

The biggest causes of leaks are corrosion, joint failure, and pressure transients, according to Laven. (see box) Because water transmission systems in the region tend to be fairly new, leaks are less common than elsewhere in the world.

According to data recently submitted to the International Water Association, transmission systems in the Middle East and North Africa region have about 60 leaks per 100 kilometre of pipeline.

This is substantially less than the worldwide average of 112 leaks per 100 kilometre. But, as Laven points out, “with each leak losing an average of 150,000 liters per day of water, this amounts to millions of liters every day for many
transmission systems.”

The case for investing in preventing leakage cannot be made better than by research into the cost effectiveness of detecting leaks in large diameter transmission pipes, he believes: “A program of locating and repairing leaks on 100 kilometres of transmission mains will recover, on average, about 17 million gallons per day. This is equivalent to adding a small water treatment plant that costs nothing to operate, at a small fraction of the cost.”

So are utilities in the Middle East doing enough to prevent water, and pecuniary, loss? “While many are not yet, there is definitely a trend towards this. Many cities in the Middle East have water loss levels of over 40 percent. There is a rapidly growing awareness of how big the problem is, and of how great the benefits can be of solving it,” says Laven.